A 16-year-old Bothell High School student died Wednesday, July 7 of bacterial meningitis.
The King County medical examiner’s office said the boy became ill on Monday, July 5, was admitted to Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, and died Wednesday.
In keeping with federal privacy laws, officials with the school district and the health agency did not release the boy’s name, but he reportedly would have been a sophomore in the coming school year.
Among others, health officials say they are monitoring at least 12 people who had contact with the teen at a football workout Monday at Bothell High School.
Because the incubation period for bacterial meningitis is 10 days or less, and because school has been out since mid-June, the boy is not believed to have contracted the disease at the school, said Sandra Tracy, health and nursing supervisor for the district.
The parents of four other students who participated in the workout have been contacted and informed of precautions and information related to the disease, Linda Vrtis, a nurse with Public Health of Seattle and King County, said in a letter posted on the school district’s Web site.
“The risk that other students and coaches at the Monday evening practice who would have had close exposure to the ill student is considerably small,” Vrtis said in the letter.
Meningococcal meningitis, named for the type of bacteria by which it is caused, is an inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord and is potentially fatal. It is spread only by direct saliva contact, such as from sharing the same drinking cup or eating utensils, kissing or being coughed or sneezed upon, Vrtis said. Casual contact does not usually present an increased risk of infection, Tracy said.
Meningitis requires prompt treatment with intravenous antibiotics to ensure recovery and reduce the risk of complications, Tracy said.
Most people who are infected become ill within three to four days, Vrtis said.
Anyone who had contact with the boy close enough to be deemed a serious risk will be given antibiotics as a preventive measure, said Matias Valenzuela, the spokesman for Public Health of Seattle and King County.
Officials declined to say which meningitis symptoms the boy exhibited.
In an attempt to trace where he contracted the disease, health officials are contacting “anyone he’s been involved with the last week or two,” Tracy said. But, she added, “it’s unlikely we’ll ever know where it actually came from.”
Bill Sheets is a reporter with The Herald in Everett. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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